Here is an extremely long novel rant about my experience with Toys R Us:
Before I pre-ordered my Pokemon games, I gave them a call. I asked them if they were having the pre-order bonus for when you bought both games, the Mega Charizard plushes. I also asked if you had to get one game or both games to get the bonus, they told me no, only one. I was ecstatic because that meant that this TRU must be doing things differently than the others, because online it says you have to get both games to get the plushie bonus. I was aiming to get both Charizard X and Y.
On another occasion, I call them again, getting a different person than who I talked to before. This time I ask if they were having a midnight release for the games, they told me no. Okay, thats fine. I also ask again about the bonus plushies, this time mentioning that online it says different, and again they said no, only one game is needed to get the bonus, not two.
And then I call again, getting another different person, to ask if the pre-order could be done over the phone to avoid arranging a ride (it couldnt, thats fine.) I confirm again about the plush bonus.
So thats three separate calls at different times speaking to three separate people and they all told me the same thing about the bonus.
A day or two later, I go to TRU to pre-order the games. I grab the order cards and go to check out, and while waiting I read the card and it says that both games are needed to get the bonus. I figure they probably just all say that at every TRU. I ask the cashier about the bonus.
The lady looks at the card, flips it around a few times, consults a manager at checkout, and the result was "LOL NOPE WE TROLLED YOU, YOU HAVE TO BUY FOUR GAMES TO GET BOTH CHARIZARDS"
...
Okay. So I pre-order FOUR games. One for me, and two for my boyfriend/a friend who are paying me back, and the last one I can either resell or return later.
A couple nights ago, I get an email saying that there was a delay in the games arriving in inventory at this TRU. I call them and ask them about it. They said they have no idea what that is and to disregard it, so I did. They said to call the night before release just in case, so I did. I talk to someone that I assume is a manager and they check their inventory thing, confirming that they will have the games on release and the bonuses tomorrow (now today.)
So thats twice I called, speaking to two separate people, confirming that they will have the games on release day.
So now for today Friday the 21st.
I arrange a ride to go pick up the games. Let me say now that arranging rides for me is difficult as I dont have a car and cant drive, so I have to rely on friends and TRU is a bit out of the way from where I live too
.
I get there, wait in line at checkout. I tell the lady im picking up my games, she says:
"WE LIED AGAIN THEY HAVE BEEN DELAYED LOL COME BACK MONDAY"
.....
OKAY. So basically, I have to wait to get the game that I PRE-ordered, after everyone else already now has it, AND they told me one game got me a plush when it was in fact two games. ASDFSDdfgkljdhdfghfghjdfgh1dfghdfgsd3
Needless to say we went to Gamestop right after and bought our games there. Ill still be getting the TRU games but they will all either be resold or returned. I've got 4 games I need to find homes for now. >_>
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UPDATE:
BUT WAIT, THERES MORE! Part 2 to my Toys R Us endeavors.....
So Monday is here and im finally able to pick up my games and Mega Charizards. I don't drive so im catching a bus to go clear on the other side of town to the only TRU in the city. Before I leave, I call TRU to verify that they do in fact actually have the games in this time.
The lady said they did, and then I made sure to verify that they can look up my receipt since I didn't have it, thinking it would only take a minute or two.
Several other TRU people I talked to told me yes and one even checked, but again, I really really do not want to waste another trip there.
The lady puts me on hold for a while. I need to leave to catch the bus soon before I miss it (I was meeting friends and I didnt want to be late.)
After getting my name, email, card number, approximate date of purchase, she still cant find it, and then finally she tells me to print out the emails that were sent to me when the games got delayed to release on Monday. The emails have the transaction numbers on them and they could look them up by that.
Im rushing, because I only have 10 minuets to make it to the bus stop before I miss it. Yahoo picks the perfect time to be down this morning. I could only manage to print one of the emails but I could not get the one for the second transaction because the page would not load, so I hoped that by having the paper for one transaction, they could look up the exact date of that purchase and pull up the second one on their computer.
To make things better, as im half walking, half running to the bus stop, the neighbors dog starts to follow me. I have to cross a busy road up ahead and I cant risk him going that far, so I have to turn around and bring him back. I finally catch the bus after nearly missing it.
Now im finally at Toys R Us waiting in line. The store opened only an hour ago and I didnt see anyone here for Pokemon games, so theres definitely got to be some Charizard plushies left. The man at checkout has to set me aside to wait since I have a special case, and so he can check out the people behind me and call for someone else that can help me. Thats fine, I understand.
Only, its been about 20 minutes now and still no one has come.
Finally some one comes, she looks like she might be a manager. She listens to my explanation, takes my printed email paper, and goes into the office to look up the transaction. They still cant find it, there is a lot of back-and-forth, and finally another 15 minutes later, a more skilled manager lady appears, types in a few numbers at the register, and it pops right up. They told me that they can not look up the second transaction at all what so ever unless I could bring them that other email. Okay, this is probably my punishment for losing my receipt. I still think its weird how they cant look up the transaction at all without the receipt, but whatever. Im lucky they sent me a delay email with the trans number right on it. I check out the first transaction and I get the first Charizard Y plush. I ask about X to make sure they still have it, and the lady tells me she thinks they're out but shes not sure.
......
...Lets not forget that the entire reason I even chose to pre-order at TRU and get 4 games was strictly because of these plushies for my collection. I planned on re-selling the extra games later at the same price purchased or slightly less.
So I leave to meet my friends for a while in that area and plan on coming back. A few hours later Im back again, and using my friends phone, I was able to pull up the second transaction number email. I show them, they look it up, and I ask about the Charizard X plush.
The guy goes to the back, digs in some boxes, and says something along the lines of:
"SORRY WE RAN OUT. YEAH THE BLUE AND BLACK ONES WENT PRETTY QUICKLY WHEN THE GAMES WERE RELEASED ON FRIDAY NIGHT"
"WHEN THE GAMES"
"WERE RELEASED"
"ON FRIDAY NIGHT."
What.
So you mean, to tell me, that these games were RELEASED, on FRIDAY night, AFTER I left TRU at 6pm that day, NOT delayed until MONDAY like I was emailed and told? I was a lot more furious than I looked and sounded. Boy I wanted to punch that god damn cheeky cartoon giraffe in the face. Keeping it together, I checked out the second transaction of games and got a second Charizard Y plush. I plan on selling that one on eBay for the price it goes for on PokemonCenter and buying Charizard X online as to basically trade them out.
Sure its just a game, and just a dinky little stuffed animal, but it isnt even about that anymore. The customer service was plain bullsh*t. I was lied to, misinformed, delayed, deceived, and more. I went through immense trouble just to get this pre-order and needless to say I will never be pre-ordering ever again at TRU, no matter how good the pre-order bonus is, and they will be lucky if I buy from there ever again in the future.
Before I pre-ordered my Pokemon games, I gave them a call. I asked them if they were having the pre-order bonus for when you bought both games, the Mega Charizard plushes. I also asked if you had to get one game or both games to get the bonus, they told me no, only one. I was ecstatic because that meant that this TRU must be doing things differently than the others, because online it says you have to get both games to get the plushie bonus. I was aiming to get both Charizard X and Y.
On another occasion, I call them again, getting a different person than who I talked to before. This time I ask if they were having a midnight release for the games, they told me no. Okay, thats fine. I also ask again about the bonus plushies, this time mentioning that online it says different, and again they said no, only one game is needed to get the bonus, not two.
And then I call again, getting another different person, to ask if the pre-order could be done over the phone to avoid arranging a ride (it couldnt, thats fine.) I confirm again about the plush bonus.
So thats three separate calls at different times speaking to three separate people and they all told me the same thing about the bonus.
A day or two later, I go to TRU to pre-order the games. I grab the order cards and go to check out, and while waiting I read the card and it says that both games are needed to get the bonus. I figure they probably just all say that at every TRU. I ask the cashier about the bonus.
The lady looks at the card, flips it around a few times, consults a manager at checkout, and the result was "LOL NOPE WE TROLLED YOU, YOU HAVE TO BUY FOUR GAMES TO GET BOTH CHARIZARDS"
...
Okay. So I pre-order FOUR games. One for me, and two for my boyfriend/a friend who are paying me back, and the last one I can either resell or return later.
A couple nights ago, I get an email saying that there was a delay in the games arriving in inventory at this TRU. I call them and ask them about it. They said they have no idea what that is and to disregard it, so I did. They said to call the night before release just in case, so I did. I talk to someone that I assume is a manager and they check their inventory thing, confirming that they will have the games on release and the bonuses tomorrow (now today.)
So thats twice I called, speaking to two separate people, confirming that they will have the games on release day.
So now for today Friday the 21st.
I arrange a ride to go pick up the games. Let me say now that arranging rides for me is difficult as I dont have a car and cant drive, so I have to rely on friends and TRU is a bit out of the way from where I live too
.
I get there, wait in line at checkout. I tell the lady im picking up my games, she says:
"WE LIED AGAIN THEY HAVE BEEN DELAYED LOL COME BACK MONDAY"
.....
OKAY. So basically, I have to wait to get the game that I PRE-ordered, after everyone else already now has it, AND they told me one game got me a plush when it was in fact two games. ASDFSDdfgkljdhdfghfghjdfgh1dfghdfgsd3
Needless to say we went to Gamestop right after and bought our games there. Ill still be getting the TRU games but they will all either be resold or returned. I've got 4 games I need to find homes for now. >_>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE:
BUT WAIT, THERES MORE! Part 2 to my Toys R Us endeavors.....
So Monday is here and im finally able to pick up my games and Mega Charizards. I don't drive so im catching a bus to go clear on the other side of town to the only TRU in the city. Before I leave, I call TRU to verify that they do in fact actually have the games in this time.
The lady said they did, and then I made sure to verify that they can look up my receipt since I didn't have it, thinking it would only take a minute or two.
Several other TRU people I talked to told me yes and one even checked, but again, I really really do not want to waste another trip there.
The lady puts me on hold for a while. I need to leave to catch the bus soon before I miss it (I was meeting friends and I didnt want to be late.)
After getting my name, email, card number, approximate date of purchase, she still cant find it, and then finally she tells me to print out the emails that were sent to me when the games got delayed to release on Monday. The emails have the transaction numbers on them and they could look them up by that.
Im rushing, because I only have 10 minuets to make it to the bus stop before I miss it. Yahoo picks the perfect time to be down this morning. I could only manage to print one of the emails but I could not get the one for the second transaction because the page would not load, so I hoped that by having the paper for one transaction, they could look up the exact date of that purchase and pull up the second one on their computer.
To make things better, as im half walking, half running to the bus stop, the neighbors dog starts to follow me. I have to cross a busy road up ahead and I cant risk him going that far, so I have to turn around and bring him back. I finally catch the bus after nearly missing it.
Now im finally at Toys R Us waiting in line. The store opened only an hour ago and I didnt see anyone here for Pokemon games, so theres definitely got to be some Charizard plushies left. The man at checkout has to set me aside to wait since I have a special case, and so he can check out the people behind me and call for someone else that can help me. Thats fine, I understand.
Only, its been about 20 minutes now and still no one has come.
Finally some one comes, she looks like she might be a manager. She listens to my explanation, takes my printed email paper, and goes into the office to look up the transaction. They still cant find it, there is a lot of back-and-forth, and finally another 15 minutes later, a more skilled manager lady appears, types in a few numbers at the register, and it pops right up. They told me that they can not look up the second transaction at all what so ever unless I could bring them that other email. Okay, this is probably my punishment for losing my receipt. I still think its weird how they cant look up the transaction at all without the receipt, but whatever. Im lucky they sent me a delay email with the trans number right on it. I check out the first transaction and I get the first Charizard Y plush. I ask about X to make sure they still have it, and the lady tells me she thinks they're out but shes not sure.
......
...Lets not forget that the entire reason I even chose to pre-order at TRU and get 4 games was strictly because of these plushies for my collection. I planned on re-selling the extra games later at the same price purchased or slightly less.
So I leave to meet my friends for a while in that area and plan on coming back. A few hours later Im back again, and using my friends phone, I was able to pull up the second transaction number email. I show them, they look it up, and I ask about the Charizard X plush.
The guy goes to the back, digs in some boxes, and says something along the lines of:
"SORRY WE RAN OUT. YEAH THE BLUE AND BLACK ONES WENT PRETTY QUICKLY WHEN THE GAMES WERE RELEASED ON FRIDAY NIGHT"
"WHEN THE GAMES"
"WERE RELEASED"
"ON FRIDAY NIGHT."
What.
So you mean, to tell me, that these games were RELEASED, on FRIDAY night, AFTER I left TRU at 6pm that day, NOT delayed until MONDAY like I was emailed and told? I was a lot more furious than I looked and sounded. Boy I wanted to punch that god damn cheeky cartoon giraffe in the face. Keeping it together, I checked out the second transaction of games and got a second Charizard Y plush. I plan on selling that one on eBay for the price it goes for on PokemonCenter and buying Charizard X online as to basically trade them out.
Sure its just a game, and just a dinky little stuffed animal, but it isnt even about that anymore. The customer service was plain bullsh*t. I was lied to, misinformed, delayed, deceived, and more. I went through immense trouble just to get this pre-order and needless to say I will never be pre-ordering ever again at TRU, no matter how good the pre-order bonus is, and they will be lucky if I buy from there ever again in the future.
.
